Knockdown bench.



IVI. WJNEUENS.

KNOCKDOWN BENCH.

APPLICATION FILED APR.6,19xs.

1,228,35@ .Patented June 5, 1917.

@f/WM f WW. @y

rre A MICHAEL W. NEUENS, OF PORT VASHINGTON, VISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN IMPLEMENT COMPANY,

F PORT WASHINGTON, WI-SCONSN.

KNOCKDOXVN BENCH.

i ,caseta Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 51, 191'?.

To VZZ whom t may concern:

lie it known that l, MICHAEL W. Nit-Umts, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Port Tlashinton in the count of Ozaulice and State of lllisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lnockdown Benches; and l do hereby dei clare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple, economical knockdown bench so constructed and arranged that the back and suit can be quickly assembled or dismantled from a selrmrable leg element, the said leg elements and combined back and seat elements being formed for nested engagement, whereby they may be conveniently stacked for shipment in compact tiers. The inventionprimarily embodies two or more duplicate body straps bent to form a combined seat and back stay, which body straps. are suitably spaced for the reception of back and seat members in either slat or solid form which are secured to the body straps by suitable means. The leg element comprises a downwardly bowed strap forming front and rear legs that are connected by a bridge piece, which bridge-piece is in nested engagement with the seat stretch of the body straps, being' bolted thereto at intervals, whereby the parts can be quickly separated or assembled. Each leg element in an assembled bench is suitably braced by truss and tie-rod connections, the tie-rod member being longitudinally disposed and also connected to an intermediate body member that may, in some instances, be used in connection with benches of certain length to stiften the same, whereby sagging is prevented. Thus only the end body straps are equipped with the leg strap members. The strap elements mentioned are preferably formed from channelwiron strips, whereby rigidity, strength and lightness will result and the leg straps are bowed with the channel i'langes upwardly extended, while the body straps are formed with the flanges downwardly eX- tended in such manner that the oppositely opposed flanges of the bridge stretch and seat stretch articulate to form a boxing into which ,boxing is fitted a series of spacing thimbles for the reception of the assembling bolts.

W ith the above objects in view the invention consists in what is herein shown and described with reference to the accompanying illustrations and .subsequently claimed.

ln the drawings A Figure l represents a front elevation of a bench embodying the features of my invention, and

F ig. 2, a cross-section of the same, the section being indicated by line 2-2 of F ig. l, parts being'broken away and in section to more clearly illustrate certain details of construction.

Referring by characters to the drawings, A represents a leg strap that is bent downwardly. at its ends to form front and rear leg members l, l', respectively, the upper ends of said leg members being' formed with curved knees 2, which are cross-connected by a bridge-piece 3. rlhe lower ends of the legs are outwardly curved in opposite directions to .form front and rear feet 4, 4E', and the legs are also cross-connected by bracebars rs shown in the drawings, the leg straps are preferably bent from single metallic channel-iron strips, whereby strength and lightness are combined, the vertical fiaugcs being outwardly extended. Each leg element, as described, is arranged to receive a body member B that is preferably also shaped from a single strip of channel iron having a straight seat-supporting stretch 6 that is formed with a downwardly curved front arm 6 and an upwardly and inwardly curved waist-bow 7, which waist-bow is merged into an inclined straight back-supporting' stretch 8, the bowed portion being upon a plane extending rearwardly of the plane of the back stretch, as shown in F ig. l. Seat-members in the form of slats 9 are riveted vor otherwise secured to the seat-supporting stretches G of the body members and he front slats are spaced apart and secured to the downturned arms 6 to form a convenient and comfortably curvedfront valance er edge for a seat. The waist-bow section 7 is free of cross-connections and the back-supporting stretches S of the body elements are connected by a series of slats 9', whichy slats are riveted or otherwise secured to said back stretches.

In benches of normal length,l as shown in Fig. 2, an intermediate body member is uti-j lized,.which is riveted or otherwise secured to the back and seat slats in a similar manner to that described in connection with the end body elements, it being understood that the said body elements channel ianges extended downwardly. Thus it will be seen that, in order to assemble the leg straps, the upwardly extended flanges of the bridge-pieces 3 and Yforward curved knee portions 2 are nested under the seat-supporting stretches 9 of the bodyV straps. They thus form a rectangular channel in cross-section, intowhich is fitted sup,- porting and spacing thimbles 10, 10, which thimbles receive clamping bolts 11 that pass through core apertures of said thimbles and alined apertures of the seat stretches and bridge-pieces 6, 3, respectively.

In order to add rigidity to the structure the brace-bars 5 of the leg elements are longitudinally connected by a truss-rod 5 which truss-rod is bowed upwardly and conned by a bolt 5 to the intermediate body strap, whereby sagging strain upon the center portion of the bench, which is devoid of legs, is resisted.

From the foregoing description it is obvious that the slat-connected body straps can be quickly detached from the bowed legstrap element and a series or tier of the detached body elements can then be nested together compactly for shipment or storage. It is also manifest that the bowed leg elements, after being disconnected by removal of the tie-rod 5', can be similarly nested into compact tiers or bundles. Thus it will be seen that a knockdown bench is formed from a series of units which can be quickly separated and as quickly secured together by sets of bolts, the assembling operation being so simple that the benches can be quickly completed or dismantled by those unskilled in the art of mechanics and when the benches are assembled they form rigid and comfortable seats with no parts to become loose or wobbly even though the article as a whole isv subjected to the rough treatment to which public benches are subjected as practice has demonstrated.

I claim:

1. A knockdown seat comprising a pair of U-shaped leg members, a body member including angular straps and seat and back portions connecting the legs of the straps and means for detachably securing corresponding legs of the straps to the bight portions of the leg members whereby upon releasing said securing means the seat may be entirely disassembled.

'2. A knockdown bench comprising U- shaped leg members, a body member comprising angular straps and seat and back portions connecting the legs of the straps, the bight portions of the leg members being Copies of this patent may be obtained for are formed with theiry inclined downwardly toward their rear ends, means for detachably securing corresponding legs of the body strap members to the bight portions of the leg members, the forward ends of said legs of the straps being downwardly directed, and said top. member when detached from the leg member being adapted to assume nested relation with similar other top members.

3. A knockdown bench comprising end body straps eachv of which is formed from a single channel-iron strip having a straight seat stretch at one end, and an obliquely disposed straight back stretch at the opposite end, the flanges of the channel-iron being outwardly extended, seat and back members for securing the body straps together, leg straps for the body straps formed from channel-iron straps bowed downwardly to form legs having feet extending therefrom, and connected by bridge-pieces, the 'flanges of the channel-iron being upwardly extended for engagement with the downwardly extended flanges of the body strap seat stretches, spacing thimbles interposed between the opposed ianges of the seat stretches and bridge pieces, and bolts for detachably securing said elements together'.

1L. A knockdown bench comprising a pair of body straps formed from channel-iron strips having straight seat stretches terminating with downwardly curved arms the rear ends of the seat stretches being merged into waist bows having straight back sections extending therefrom, the channel-iron strips being bent with their flanges extending outwardly, leg straps for the support of the body straps, the leg straps being formed from channel-iron strips bent downwardly at their ends to constitute front and rear legs having outwardly extended feet, the upper ends of the leg sections being provided with curved knees provided with straight bridge stretches, the forward knees and bridge stretches being nested under the arms and straight seat stretches of the body straps, spacing thimbles interposed between the seat stretches and the bridge pieces of the respective body and leg straps, bolts for securing the same, and means for trussing the leg strips.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing i I have hereunto set my hand at Port lNashington, in the county of Ozaukee and State of Ilsconsim in the presence of two witve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner cf laltentus, Washington, D. G. 

